The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet and particularly to an image forming apparatus with a sheet discharge portion to which a sheet having an image formed thereon is to be discharged and a sheet discharge tray additionally attached above the sheet discharge portion.
A sheet discharge portion to which a sheet having an image forming process applied thereto is to be discharged is arranged in an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine or a complex machine having these functions. Particularly, in some image forming apparatuses, the sheet discharge portion is arranged on an upper surface portion of an image forming apparatus main body because of an advantage that discharged sheets are easily taken out. Further, by arranging another sheet discharge tray above and at a predetermined distance from the sheet discharge portion, the sheet discharge portions can be switched according to users.
Conventionally, a technology has been disclosed in which an image reading apparatus is arranged above and at a predetermined distance from an image forming unit and a sheet discharge portion to which a sheet is to be discharged is arranged on an upper surface portion of the image forming unit. A plurality of sheet discharge portions are provided by additionally attaching a sheet discharge tray between the sheet discharge portion and a lower surface portion of the image reading apparatus.
In the above technology, the sheet discharge tray added to the image forming apparatus includes a hook member projecting upward or downward from the sheet discharge tray at one end side in a tray width direction intersecting with an attaching direction of the sheet discharge tray. If projecting upward from the sheet discharge tray, the hook member is attached to the lower surface portion of the image reading apparatus. Further, if projecting downward from the sheet discharge tray, the hook member is mounted in a guide groove formed in the upper surface of the image forming unit.
If the hook member projects upward or downward from one end of the sheet discharge tray additionally attached to the image forming apparatus as described above, it may be broken when the sheet discharge tray is attached. Further, if the hook member projects upward, it is difficult for an operator to confirm a hook mounting portion arranged on the lower surface portion of the image reading apparatus and an attaching operation has taken time in some cases.
The present disclosure was developed to solve the above problem and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus which enables easy attachment of a sheet discharge tray.